Metso continues to strengthen its customer focus and appoints Urs Pennanen to head Customer and Marketing Operations

Mr. Urs Pennanen (M.Sc., Industrial Management) has been appointed Senior Vice President, Customer and Marketing Operations as of October 1, 2014. The new organization, headed by Pennanen, supports Metso's transformation into a focused, market-driven company working in close cooperation with customers. The Customer and Marketing Operations organization owns and drives sales development as well as marketing and communications in Metso, working closely with the business and market areas.

Urs Pennanen joined Metso in December 2013 from GE Healthcare to lead sales and services at Metso Automation in Asia Pacific. He is currently located in Gurgaon, India. In his new role, Urs Pennanen participates in Metso Executive Team meetings.

"Excelling in customer service requires true customer closeness and continuous development. This is also the reason why we are strengthening and unifying our marketing, sales development and communication activities. In his new role, Urs is responsible for creating an effective operating model, priorities and actions for the new organization to fulfill - and exceed - our customers' expectations," says Matti Kähkönen, President and CEO, Metso.

"Our goal is to strengthen Metso's position as the leading technology and services provider for end-to-end minerals processing and to become a leader in flow control within the oil & gas and mining industries. The new Customer and Marketing Operations organization is a key element in achieving this target. Urs' long-term management experience in heading marketing and sales organizations accompanied with his skills in creating and executing strategies is essential in his new position," Matti Kähkönen adds.